Obama, at K'Nex Toy Factory, Hammers GOP on Budget Reforms

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- President Barack Obama used his November re-election victory as leverage to suggest that Americans have already voiced their approval for his budget-reform proposal.

The president, in a speech Friday at a K'nex toy factory in Hatfield, Pa., called out House Republicans and others who have resisted his calls for tax increases on the wealthiest 2% of income earners and capital gains and dividend taxes to raise revenue in a new budget.

"It wasn't like this shouldn't come as any surprise to anybody," Obama said. "At the end of the day, a clear majority of Americans ... agreed with a balanced approach to deficit reduction and making sure middle-class taxes didn't go up. They agreed to that."

The president won by a convincing margin in the Electoral College against Republican challenger Mitt Romney on Nov. 6 as the Democratic Party added to its majority in the U.S. Senate and grabbed a few seats from Republicans in the GOP-controlled House.

Standing in front of boxes filled with K'nex toy parts -- which fit together to form complex building sets -- the president reiterated his belief that Democrats and Republicans could reach a deal, but added that the long-term goal is to tackle the United States' long-term deficit in a way that is sustainable for the future.

House Speaker John Boehner has rejected the idea of raising taxes on Americans, regardless of their income.

Making a joking reference to gift giving during the holiday season, Obama said there will be a "naughty and nice" list of legislators who will receive K'nex toys from him based on where they stand on the fiscal-cliff negotiations.

"There are going to be some members of Congress who get them, and some who don't," Obama said.

Boehner spoke shortly after the president's speech in a press conference to say that the White House had not yet released what he called a serious proposal.